Dr. T

I picked this up at a local music store a while back and haven't been able to find out much of anything about it. It's kinda fun to play but takes me a while to work out fingerings Any idea what it is and.........is there a fingering chart available??

ComeBackKid

I'm not an expert on this, being a comeback player of only a few months after more than 30 years off, but here is my take. I can't add anything about the history of this model but as far as playing goes, it appears to be a "soprano" trumpet such as an Eb or D key. The fingering may appear to be different than a Bb because your ear is used to hearing a certain pitch when you press a particular valve combination. But, if you ignore the absolute pitch and simply go by relative pitch, you should find that the fingering is the same. For example, if you start with an open note (which would be Eb, for example) and press the 2nd valve, it will drop the pitch one semitone - the same as it does on a Bb trumpet, then 1st valve 2 semitones, 3rd valve 3 semitones, etc. If you find some Eb (or whatever key the trumpet is) music score, and play it as written, it should match the corresponding concert pitch of a piano, violin, etc. just as a Bb trumpet does. If you have not played one before, it can be disconcerting. I recently tried a piccolo trumpet for the first time. Even though the piccolo is a Bb instrument, I had a very difficult time playing it. The harmonics (partials) are in different places and so the typical fingering seemed all messed up. I could not play the lower notes at all (it had a 4th valve for those) and I could not play any higher than on a regular Bb trumpet so it seemed like I had about 1 octave of useable range on the thing. If this is anything like a piccolo, it will take some retraining of the ear, and fingers, to be able to play anything useful on it. Other than that, how is the tone on it? Does it sound different than a Bb played in the same range?

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Come-Back Kid
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Dr. T

When I play 3 ascending open notes on it I get concert F, concert C, concert F.......G,D, G on the Bb horn. The sound is nice and tight but intonation is a bit squirrely. There's a section of tubing (the part with 2 braces just in front of the main tuning slide that can be removed. Is this meant to change the key (without changing any of the other slides)?

s.coomer

I am going to agree that this looks like a D, Eb and maybe that is why you have the different slides. I know I have a different bell and slides for my D, Eb.

Dr. T

Sorry for the newb questions but I've never studied the soprano trumpets at all. As I said, when I play 3 open notes in ascending order from lowest to higher I get Concert F, C, F. When I remove the slide section and play the 3 open notes I get concert G, D, G. Does this mean it's an F/G horn?
Pics
With the slide section:


Without:

seouljourner

In response to your last question, I believe the answer is "yes." I saw a horn like yours (without the added tubing) advertised as a trumpet in G. The bell diameter looks quite large for a soprano instrument. What is the diameter of the bell?
Enjoy your unique horn!
Tim

Dr. T

Thanks Tim,
The bell is 4 3/4" in diameter.

bobd0

Beautiful little horn.

I found a listing with a photo for a Cousenon Bb/A piccolo herald trumpet. The bell looks similar to yours (but on the opposite side) and the leadpipe is shorter.

Couesnon SN# 41747 Monopole Star Herald Piccolo Bb/A: HornTrader

On a Bb horn concert C, G, C = D, A, D
Concert F, C, F = G, D, G
Concert G, D, G = A, E, A

Is your horn an Eb/F piccolo herald trumpet?

ComeBackKid

The next question is which octave you are hearing. A regular Bb trumpet playing open tones will play (concert pitch):
Bb2 (pedal), Bb3 (low), F3 (bottom of staff), Bb4 (mid), D4, F4(top of staff), Ab5, Bb5, etc.

Since the trumpet you have posted here is clearly shorter than a regular Bb, it must be in the next octave series up, which, if I understand your question, would be (skipping the pedal tone) concert F3, C4, F4. Is that what you are hearing?

__________________
Come-Back Kid
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Selmer Invicta London (T)
Olds SuperStar (T)
Olds Super (2T)
Olds Special (2T+C)
Olds Ambassador (9T+7C)
Andreas Eastman (2T)
Conn Director (T+C)
King Cleveland Superior (T+C)
Holton (T602+C605 Shep Crk)
Holton Collegiate (T+C)
Blessing (T+C)
Yamaha (T+C)
Getzen 300
Amati ATR213
(+Revelle, Bundy, Alcazar, & ?)

Dr. T

Correct. Open tones skipping the pedal are concert F3, C4, F4